Clash of Champions (2016)
Clash of Champions (2016) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE. It took place Sunday on September 25, 2016 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the first WWE event under the Clash of Champions chronology, replacing Night of Champions. It was the first Raw branded event following the second WWE brand extension in July 2016. Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the pre-show. The main event saw Kevin Owens defeat Seth Rollins to retain the WWE Universal Championship. Of the five Raw-exclusive championships, only the United States Championship changed hands, with Roman Reigns defeating the defending champion, Rusev. Storylines The card included nine matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw brand. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television show Monday Night Raw. As per the theme of the event, every championship exclusive to Raw – the WWE Universal Championship, the Raw Women's Championship, the United States Championship, the Raw Tag Team Championship, and the WWE Cruiserweight Championship – was defended. At SummerSlam, Finn Bálor became the first WWE Universal Champion by defeating Seth Rollins. However, he was forced to vacate the championship the next night on Raw due to suffering a legit shoulder injury during the match. Rollins, Kevin Owens, Big Cass, and Roman Reigns all won matches to qualify for a four-way elimination match the next week on Raw for the vacant Universal Championship. After Owens eliminated Cass, a returning Triple H helped Rollins eliminate Reigns, before turning on Rollins and helping Owens win the championship. The next week, Rollins turned face and attacked Owens during his celebration ceremony. Raw general manager Mick Foley then scheduled Owens to defend his championship against Rollins at Clash of Champions. Rusev had been scheduled to defend the United States Championship against Roman Reigns at SummerSlam, but the contest resulted in a no contest when the two brawled before the match, with Reigns standing tall in the end. Having been deprived of his chance at the WWE Universal Championship in the four-way elimination match, Reigns confronted Owens on the September 5 episode of Raw. General Manager Mick Foley promised to add Reigns to the title match at Clash of Champions if he could defeat Owens in a non-title match the following week. Reigns lost the match, first by disqualification when Seth Rollins attacked Owens. Foley then restarted the match, but Rusev came down to the ring and distracted Reigns, allowing Owens to score a pinfall. The following week, a match between Rollins and Rusev, which had been booked as punishment for their interference the previous week, ended in a double countout. Reigns was then granted a rematch against Rusev for the U.S. title at Clash of Champions. At SummerSlam, The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) lost to Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson by disqualification when Big E returned from injury and interfered in the match. However, The New Day remained Tag Team Champions. On the September 5 episode of Raw, a rematch was scheduled for Clash of Champions. On the September 12 episode, Kingston and Woods lost a non-title rematch against Gallows and Anderson. At SummerSlam, Charlotte defeated Sasha Banks to regain the Women's Championship. During the match, Sasha suffered a legit back injury and then took time off to heal. On the September 5 episode of Raw, Bayley defeated Charlotte after a failed distraction from Charlotte's valet, Dana Brooke. Sasha teased a retirement, but then revealed that she would be cleared to compete by Clash of Champions and invoked her rematch clause for the Women's Championship at the event. The next week, a confrontation between all four women lead to a triple threat match to decide Charlotte's challenger at Clash of Champions. Banks defeated Bayley and Brooke to secure her title opportunity, but a week later, after replays showed Sasha's shoulders being down as well as Bayley's when she pinned her, Bayley was added to the title match, making it a triple threat match. On the September 12 episode of Raw, Sami Zayn was the guest on Chris Jericho's "Highlight Reel". After both men insulted each other, Jericho attacked Zayn with a cell phone and a Codebreaker. Later, a match between the two was scheduled for Clash of Champions. A best of seven-series between Cesaro and Sheamus began at SummerSlam. Sheamus won the first three matches at SummerSlam and on the August 29 and September 5 episodes of Raw to lead the series 3–0. However, Cesaro won the next three matches on a September 7 house show and on the September 12 and 19 episodes of Raw to even the series at 3–3. The seventh match to decide the series was set for Clash of Champions. T.J. Perkins won the inaugural Cruiserweight Classic and became the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Champion by defeating Gran Metalik in the final. On the September 19 episode of Raw, Brian Kendrick defeated Metalik, Cedric Alexander, and Rich Swann in a Fatal-4-Way match to earn a title match against Perkins at Clash of Champions. On the September 12 episode of Raw, a match between Alicia Fox and Nia Jax ended in a no contest when Jax tackled Fox through the barricade. On September 19, a rematch was scheduled for the Clash of Champions pre-show. Aftermath Seth Rollins suffered a legitimate rib injury stemming from Kevin Owens's Gutbuster off the second rope, leading to him not being medically cleared to compete. The following night, Raw opened with a rematch between Roman Reigns and Rusev for the United States Championship. The match ended in a double countout. Afterwards, Reigns attacked Rusev with a chair, thus standing tall. Also on Raw, Sasha Banks demanded a one-on-one rematch for the Raw Women's Championship as she had not been pinned at Clash of Champions. Charlotte agreed to the rematch to take place the following week on Raw, where she lost the title to Banks. Results Cruiserweight results Raw results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Clash of Champions Category:Clash of Champions Category:2016 Pay-Per-View Events Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events